So long ago I gave up making resolutions, but last year maybe around March or so I committed myself to making our lifestyle a little greener. I fully admit that I used to think people who were eco-nuts were, well, nuts. But I decided to make baby steps in the right direction and see what one year could do. So I'm now proud to announce the things we have changed this year...small steps added up to a lot of things overall and we didn't even notice the change!
• Switched to environmentally friendly cleaning products. I have even made some of them! Most of them I like, still working on something that cuts kitchen grease though.
• Started recycling plastic bags at Cub. Did you know you can also recycle plastic wrap from your paper towel and stuff like that too?
• Started walking or biking to do small grocery trips in the summer. (This was mostly because of the high cost of gas, but Josh and I enjoyed it so we will probably continue even if gas stays low by next summer!)
• Also started trying to combine more trips into one so I don't take the car out as much. And I know this is silly, but I try to plan my route with right hand turns because apparently that's more fuel efficient:)
• Started recycling cardboard more, didn't really do much of that before.
• Started bringing home bottles or cans to recycle if I was out and bought a water or a pop. (Did you know that recycling 1 can can save enough energy to power at TV for 3 hours?)
• I found a reuseable coffee cup sleeve so when I go to Caribou, I can use my own and that saves cardboard sleeves! Ok, I know that's pretty small and if I was REALLY green, I would bring my own mug, but c'mon, baby steps remember!
• Started bringing my own bags to the grocery store. I'm particularly proud of this one cuz we actually remember MOST of the time now!
• Started reusing Christmas cards and scratch paper for Riley's art projects. She loves them! I even give my old desk calendars to her to play with and she thinks it's pretty cool!
• Switched to LED lights on our tree this year! I'm really excited about this one too and next year I think we might even switch the house lights. I found a house in the neighborhood that has my LED C9s and it's not THAT BAD! It's not as bright as the lights I have always used, but I think I can sacrifice! Baby steps!
• And my new favorite, got Bamboo sheets and towels for Christmas and I LOVE THEM! They are sooo soft! Bamboo is a more renewable material than cotton and requires less (or no?) pesticide to produce. Plus it's naturally anti-bacterial.
See, little things add up and we didn't even notice it! Yikes! What should we try next year? Any thoughts?
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